


Warmth from Within

by msraven



Series: Trope Bingo Round 3 Blackout [16]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Phil, Clint Needs a Hug, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Minor Angst, Not Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Compliant, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 22:05:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1664114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msraven/pseuds/msraven
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A clash with Amora leaves Clint questioning his true nature and it's up to Phil to remind him who he really is.</p><p>Another small fill for the wingfic square on my trope_bingo card and in support of the CC Lives! challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth from Within

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

The orderly walks through the door right on schedule and Phil swings the metal clipboard down, making solid contact with the back of the man's head. The movement makes Phil's still-healing chest muscles twinge, but it's nothing he can't handle. Phil has been playing the perfect patient for the past few weeks in preparation for his escape and to ensure that he could render the orderly unconscious without lasting damage to himself or the other man.

"Was that really necessary?" says a familiar voice from the hallway and Phil spins around with a glare.

"You can't keep me here. We both know I'll escape eventually, so you're better off just letting me go now before I really get angry."

"You're here for your own good, to give you the time you need to heal," Fury counters.

"Bullshit. I'm here because you think your precious Avengers still need a push to work together."

"It was your idea."

"Fuck you. It wasn't my idea to let everyone think I was dead." 

To let _Clint_ think he was dead, Phil doesn't have to say. Fury already knows that Clint is the only Avenger that Phil is truly concerned about. It's that thought that makes Phil pause, realizing that it is three in the morning and Fury can't be here to rehash the same argument over again.

"What's wrong?"

Fury straightens, as if bracing himself, and apprehension settles like a stone in Phil's stomach.

"We have a situation with Barton."

Phil growls. "If he's gotten hurt because you've kept me here, there is nothing you can do that will keep me from destroying you."

For the first time in their long history, Phil sees fear break through Fury's stoic facade. Despite their current disagreement, Fury is still Phil's friend and he remains steadfast in his loyalty to SHIELD, but nothing supersedes Phil's love for Clint. It's a fact that Fury must not have internalized until now.

"Understood," Fury says with respectful nod. "And Barton's fine. Or we think he's mostly fine. It's probably best that you come back with me to HQ and let the Avengers explain."

"Then let's go." 

Phil tosses the clipboard to the side and begins striding down the hallway with Fury.

"Do you want me to call ahead for a fresh suit for you?" Fury asks as they're climbing into his car for the short drive from Arlington to Triskelion. 

Phil looks down at the clothing he'd stolen and shakes his head.

"I don't give a damn. All I care about right now is Clint."

  


* * *

  


"Everyone else is seeing this right? He isn't a ghost come back to haunt me?"

"We all see him, Stark," Natasha responds with dangerously narrowed eyes. "I'm pretty sure Coulson's ghost wouldn't be walking around in hospital scrubs. And _you_ ," she directs at Fury, "better have a damn good reason for this."

"Later," Phil interrupts. "Right now, I want to know what happened to Clint."

"It may be best for us to show you," Steve responds. "Tony?"

"We're really not going to talk about the fact that he's supposed to be dead?" Tony asks, earning glares from everyone in the room. "Right. Fix Clint first."

Phil tries not to think too hard about Stark's comment or how guilty Steve looks as the video comes up on screen. He steps closer, looking for Clint, as the image shows Steve fending off what looks like walking trees. A moment later, a woman Phil doesn't recognize materializes behind the Captain.

"That is Amora," Thor supplies. "A former ally of my brother's."

"Maybe we should show everyone your true nature, Captain," Amora says and a blast of green light bursts from her hands. Steve is busy with four of the tree creatures and doesn't see it coming.

"Cap! Watch out!" 

Seemingly from out of nowhere, Clint swings down and shoves Steve out of the way, bearing the full force of Amora's blast. He's immediately surround by green, crackling light and Amora is thrown backward by a strike of lightning that Phil assumes must have come from Thor.

When the light clears, Clint is crouched in a ball on the ground with black, leathery wings protruding from his back. Clint starts to sit up and Phil watches as he looks down in horror at his claw-like hands and then the large wings on his back. Clint's skin, once a golden brown, is now a greyish blue and there are two horns on his forehead.

"Clint are you okay?" Steve asks as he steps closer, making Clint stand quickly and stumble backwards. When he looks at Steve, Phil can see Clint's eyes flare with a familiar blue glow.

"Don't! Don't come any closer."

"It's okay, Clint. You'll be okay," Steve tells him. "We'll figure out how to fix this."

Phil's heart breaks at the defeat in Clint's voice when he replies. "You can't fix this. Nobody's ever been able to fix this."

Clint's new wings fan out wide, preparing for flight, and Steve starts to run forward, only to be knocked down by more tree creatures. Clint soars into the air and out of the picture while Steve struggles to get free.

"Clint, wait!" Steve yells, but Clint is already gone.

"I followed him for as far as I could," Thor says, "but he flew faster than I expected and there was still Amora and her minions to deal with. I am sorry Son of Coul. We have failed in protecting our friend."

"That was yesterday," Natasha adds. "We haven't been able to find him. He hasn't shown up on any surveillance cameras anywhere in the city."

"Maybe this is really his true nature and he doesn't want to be found."

Stark is knocked on his ass in the next second, courtesy of a punch in the jaw from Phil, and kept there by a knife through his sleeve, courtesy of Natasha.

"If you really believe that, then you don't know Clint at all and don't deserve to," Phil says angrily.

"It's a valid theory!" 

"No, it's not," Bruce says calmly, stepping between Tony and the others before any more damage can be done. "Come on, Tony. You've probably spent more time with Clint than anyone else these past few months. You know this isn't him."

"Yeah, but he's been really sad and upset." Tony rubs his jaw with his free hand and looks away, clearly unwilling to believe his own theory about his new friend. " _Really_ sad and it wasn't getting any better."

"That doesn't make him a demon inside."

"We all know that's not Clint," Steve cuts, voice brooking no further argument. "Besides, his eyes glowed blue."

"My brother's work?"

"It could be remnants from before," Bruce muses. "I know Clint is still having nightmares and he's always complaining about being cold."

"None of this is helping us find him," Natasha points out. 

"No, but I can," Phil says and walks over to one of the consoles. 

"What are you doing?"

"Activating his emergency tracker."

"You and Barton requested those be deactivated years ago," Fury frowns. 

"The ones you know about, yes. Only we have access to these."

"When did you two get married?" Stark asks flippantly. 

"Almost two years ago."

Phil ignores Tony's sputtering and finishes keying in the special sequence necessary to track Clint. His location, when it finally displays, is not much of a surprise. 

"He's back in Manhattan?"

"Our old apartment building," Phil clarifies and turns to Fury. "I'll need that suit now."

  


* * *

  


The Avengers protest, but eventually agree to wait for Phil and Clint at the Tower. Phil doesn't bother stopping at their now-abandoned apartment and climbs straight up to the roof. The door creaks loudly like it always has, but Clint doesn't turn from where he is looking out over the city. 

"I don't know how you found me, but there was no point in coming for me."

"I promised you a long time ago that I would always come for you."

Clint spins to face him, eyes wide and wings fanning out to balance the sudden movement. Phil deliberately starts to cross the distance separating them. 

"Phil? It can't… It can't be you."

"It _is_ me. Fury's had me locked away while I recovered—it wasn't my choice. I'm so sorry, Clint. I came as soon as I could."

"But your tracker..."

Phil stops a few feet away from Clint, his mouth twisting wryly. "You've got to hand it to the Director, he covers all possibilities. Even if Fury didn't know about the new trackers we implanted, he still accounted for it. The medical facility is underneath Arlington."

Clint closes his eyes for a moment and when he opens them, they're bright with unshed tears. "It's really you?"

"It is," Phil nods. 

Clint reaches out for Phil, but stops when his claws come into view. He starts to pull them back and Phil quickly steps forward to grasp them firmly, knowing Clint won't pull away in fear of unintentionally hurting Phil . 

"Don't, Phil," Clint pleads. "I never would have wanted you to see me like this."

"Trust me when I tell you that I will take this a thousand times over the possibility of never seeing you again. And whatever you may think, this isn't you."

"But Amora said—"

"It doesn't matter what she said," Phil interrupts. He lets go of one of Clint's claws and lifts a hand to press his palm against Clint's cheek, unsurprised to find it cold to the touch. "I know you and I love you, and you are the person furthest from a demon that I can imagine."

"Then how do you explain what happened? Maybe I'm darker inside than either one of us wants to believe."

"You're wrong."

"How can you know that for sure?" Clint argues. 

"I don't. But it's what I've seen and what I will believe until the moment I actually die. You are a good man, Clint Barton, and no false outer shell will convince me otherwise."

Clint leans into Phil's hand and Phil smiles at him encouragingly.

"I have also spent years staring into your eyes and have only ever seen them glow blue one other time, before yesterday."

The aforementioned eyes go wide. "This was Loki's doing?"

"Dr. Banner believes that remnants of his magic explains, not just this transformation, but the constant chill you feel and your lingering nightmares."

"The nightmares are more about you than Loki."

"Then I'm here to make sure they're both gone for good."

"Are you going to hit me over the head like Natasha did?" 

"I thought we'd try something a little gentler."

Phil uses the hand still on Clint's cheek to pull him in for a kiss. Clint's lips are startlingly cold, but instead of reminding Phil of the icy spear that pierced through his chest, his mind goes back to a remote cabin and a kiss that began the best years of Phil's life. He embraces the memory, reliving all the love that followed it. Phil pours everything he feels into the kiss, pushing against the cold until it shatters and Clint's lips finally warm beneath his. 

When the kiss ends and Phil opens his eyes, it's to the vision of Clint familiar blue-green eyes and golden skin. Clint smiles and shakes his head fondly. 

"I can't believe that worked. How did that work?"

"It's magic. Who knows how any of it works?"

"So you were guessing." Clint accuses with a fond smile.

"I was working on the assumption that all those fairy tales weren't too far from the truth."

"You are such a sap."

Phil opens his mouth to retort, but something catches his eye and he looks up and over Clint's shoulders. 

"So the good news is that it seems your true self has resurfaced."

"And the bad news?" Clint asks, turning his head to look behind him. 

Instead of the black, leathery wings, there are now a pair of beautifully feathered wings in the shape and coloring common to red-tailed hawks. They're beautiful and Phil has some difficulty tearing his eyes away to look at Clint's awestruck face. 

"Stark is never going to let you live this down."

Clint laughs and wraps his arms, then his wings, around Phil. Safe and cocooned together within the warmth of Clint's new feathers, they vow never to let the cold separate them again.

~ _fin_ ~


End file.
